Energy Imbalance = The Cause of Obesity?

We’re hearing more these days that the American population is becoming overweight. Often times we hear the culprit being poor diet. But what else is leading to this trend? The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute may have the answer. The number one cause attributed to Obesity is what they call a Lack of Energy Balance. The concept of Energy balance is really quite simple: If the amount of intake energy (calories) is equal to the outtake then weight stays the same. If intake is greater than outtake then weight increases, and if outtake is greater than intake, weight loss occurs.

So, how is it that we keep increasing our intake without creating a similar outake? There could be a couple of causes:

An inactive lifestyle can create an imbalanced energy. Remember our post about walking a little bit extra? Well, persons who spend hours in front of TVs, computers, or persons who choose driving short distances over walking are all at risk of creating an energy imbalance.

Health conditions are also a major player in energy imbalance. There are some hormone problems that, like hypothyroidism, that slow down your metabolism. That slowing of metabolism can decrease the amount of energy burned.

A lack of sleep can also be a major cause of energy imbalance. Studies show that sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of hormones which control hunger and satiation. When you don’t sleep enough, the hormones controlling hunger increase and the ones controlling satiation decrease.

Some of these problems can be corrected with slight adjustments to your daily routine. Focus on creating a healthy diet, and then find ways that you can add a little bit of extra time to activities. Always make sure you’re getting ample rest too!

If slight adjustments to your daily routine aren’t helping, and you need extra help you should explore our weight-loss procedures. They are developed to help you lose weight, and keep it off.